North Spotlight | Marlins go 12-0 with big finish

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The Cairns Marlins outscored the Ipswich Force 58 points to 32 in the first and fourth quarters on Friday night to stay undefeated in the NBL1 North with the eventual 106-91 home victory.

Cairns were back home at Trinity Ford Stadium putting their undefeated record on the line against the visiting Ipswich who need at least one win this weekend from their road double in the Far North to consolidate a playoff position.

The Marlins then had 32 points to 17 in the first quarter but over the next two periods Ipswich had 59 points to 50 to be just four down at three quarter-time only for Cairns to take control once more with a 26-15 final term.

That saw the Marlins secure the 15-point victory to improve to a perfect 12-0 record this season with Ipswich now slipping to 6-6 having lost their past two.

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It turned out being quite the high quality affair with Cairns finishing up shooting 53 per cent from the field to 49 from Ipswich with the Marlins going 10/22 from downtown and 20/25 at the foul line to the 6/26 and 19/24 from the Force.

Cairns also pulled down 10 offensive rebounds to eight, and had just 14 turnovers to the 18 from Ipswich on the way to taking five extra shots to help them stay undefeated this season with the eventual 15-point victory.

Amarco Doyle scored 13 of his 25 points for the night in the third quarter for Cairns to go with six rebounds on 10/15 field goal shooting while hitting 3/5 from beyond the arc.

Kody Stattmann had another 21 points, seven rebounds, five steals and two assists, Ky Stattmann 16 points and four boards, Luca Yates 16 points, seven rebounds and two assists, Kobe McDowell-White 15 points, 13 assists and seven boards, and Kyle Leslie nine points with 3/5 three-point shooting.

Lamar Patterson finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Ipswich while gong 11/12 at the free-throw line despite 6/20 from the field and 1/11 from behind the three-point line.

Lachlan Anderson added 17 points, four rebounds and two steals, Sam McDaniel 15 points and two boards, Mitch Poulain 11 points and six rebounds, and Merrick Small 10 points and four boards.

The Marlins were back home and putting their unbeaten season on the line against a dangerous and experienced Ipswich line-up and the home side wasted no time stamping themselves on the contest.

Cairns put up 32 points to 17 in the first quarter while shooting a scorching 72 per cent from the field with 5/9 from downtown while limiting Ipswich to just 43 per cent shooting and only 14 shot attempts while also helping them cough up five turnovers.

The Force hit back in the second period, though, with 29 points to 21 to cut that Marlins lead back to 53-46 at half-time with Lamar Patterson up to 20 points for the Force.

But Cairns were still shooting at 55 per cent with Kody Stattmann showing the way with 12 points while Kobe McDowell-White, Kyle Leslie, Amarco Doyle and Luca Yates all having nine apiece.

Ipswich then stuck with Cairns in the third quarter too with 30 points to 27 on the back of shooting another 13/21 from the field to the 11/21 from the home team in what was a high quality affair.

The Marlins were only leading 80-76 by three quarter-time but the then took control int eh final period with 26 points to 15 on the way to the 15-point victory to improve to 12-0 on the season.

Cairns have until next Friday night when they take on the Southern Districts Spartans to start a road double that continues on Saturday against the North Gold Coast Seahawks.

Ipswich back up in Far North Queensland on Saturday night now against the Townsville Heat.

NBL1 NORTH 2026 SEASON | ROUND 11

CAIRNS MARLINS 106 (Doyle 25, Kody Stattmann 21, Yates 16, Ky Stattmann 16)

IPSWICH FORCE 91 (Patterson 24, Anderson 17, McDaniel 15)